A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of computer networks. In particular, the invention relates to accounting and billing for services in a computer network.
B. Description of the Related Art
The low cost of Internet connectivity and a wide range of services are driving and more people onto the Internet, which is driving the deployment of TCP/IP networks. This process has led to a new market of client-server applications that enables the user to interact with other users and computer systems around the world. The use of these applications is consuming more and more Intranet and Internet bandwidth.
New applications such as xe2x80x9cvoice over IP (Internet Protocol)xe2x80x9d and streaming audio and video require even more bandwidth and a different quality of service than email, or other less real-time applications. Also, the type quality of service can vary according to the needs of the user. For example, typically, businesses do not tolerate unavailable network services as easily as consumers. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) therefore would like to price their available bandwidth according to a user""s needs. For example,flat monthly pricing may be the best billing model for consumers, but businesses may want to be billed according to their used bandwidth at particular qualities of service.
As ISPs continue to differentiate themselves by providing additional services, enterprise information technology managers will face similar problems to account for the escalating Intranet operating costs.
Therefore, ISPs and enterprise information technology managers will want to account for session logging, bandwidth usage, directory data and application session information from a variety of sources.
Due to the diversity of IP data sources (e.g., routers, hubs etc.), the need for effect tracking far exceeds the problems addressed by telephone companies. Telephone companies track information such as circuit usage so it can be correlated with account information. For example, businesses may use leased lines, consumers may have xe2x80x9cFriends and Familyxe2x80x9d plans, cellular phones have different roamer fees according to the location of the user, etc. Typically, the phone company captures all of the data and uses batch processing to aggregate the information into specific user accounts. For example, all the long distance calls made during a billing period are typically correlated with the Friends and Family list for each phone account at the end of a billing period for that account. This requires a significant amount of computing power. However, this type of problem is significantly simpler than attempting to track and bill for every transaction in an IP network. Therefore, what is desired is a system that allows for accounting and billing of transactions on IP based networks.
The problem is even more difficult in IP network traffic because the information sources can exist and many different levels of the OSI network model, throughout heterogeneous networks. Potential sources of information include packet use from routers, firewall authentication logging, email data, ISP session logging, and application layer use information. Therefore, what is desired is a system and method that track IP network usage information across multiple layers of the OSI network model.
A network accounting and billing system and method are described. In some embodiments, the system can access any network related information sources such as traffic statistics provided by routers and switching hubs as well as application server access logs. The information can be accumulated in a central database for creating auditing, accounting and billing reports. Alternatively, the information can be sent directly to other systems such as rating engines used in customer care and billing systems.
In one embodiment, network traffic information is captured at network information sources (examples of information sources include network devices). These sources provide detailed information about the network communications transactions at a network device. Importantly, different types of sources can provide different types of information. Gatherer devices gather the detailed information from the various information source devices and convert the information into standardized information. The gatherer devices can correlate the gathered information with account information for network transaction accounting. Manager devices manage the gatherer devices and store the gathered standardized information. The manager devices eliminate duplicate network information that may exist in the standardized information. The manager devices also consolidate the information. Importantly, the information stored by the manager devices represents the consolidated, account correlated, network transaction information used for billing. In addition to account information, transaction information can be correlated to other information such as geography information (e.g., the location of an accessed server) and/or transaction routing information (as may be used in peering agreements between Internet Service Providers). The system thereby provides a distributed network accounting and billing system.
In some embodiments, the gatherer devices can access sources through proxy gateways, firewalls, and/or address translation barriers.
In some embodiments, the gatherer devices can correlate the information about a specific transaction with a particular account by accessing the transaction""s source and/or destination information. The source and/or destination information is then correlated with account information from an account information database.